Gareth Pursehouse, 41 - with whom Harwick had recently broken up - was taken into custody and charged with murder.

"He was a stalker," Dr Harwick's friend Rudy Torres told KABC, the NY Post reports.. "When they broke up, he didn't take it well at all. He'd do stupid stuff and say stupid stuff. You'd tell him, 'Move on, dude, leave her alone.' And he wouldn't."

Dr Amie Harwick was a renowned sex therapist.

Dr Harwick had a restraining order against Pursehouse until two weeks ago, when it expired, according to the report.

But Tunisia Offray, of the California-based Shepherd's Door Domestic Violence Resource Center, told the outlet "a lot of these guys aren't threatened by the piece of paper".

Police were initially called to the Hollywood Hills residence to investigate reports of a woman screaming. Officers were met in the street by Dr Harwick's flatmate, who had jumped a wall and fled to neighbours for help, after her friend was attacked inside the home.

Authorities responding to the report found Dr Harwick unconscious with grave injuries after she had apparently fallen from a third-floor balcony, police said. She was transported to a local hospital, where she died from her injuries.

An investigation revealed possible evidence of a struggle upstairs and forced entry to the residence, police said.